The Supreme Court had asked the government to hold LB elections across the country by September 15. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retd) Asif Yasin Malik has apologised to the Supreme Court for his failure to comply with the court orders to hold local bodies’ elections in the garrison areas of the country.
On October 11, the top court had issued a contempt notice to Lt Gen Malik for not conducting LB polls in the cantonment boards despite its repeated instructions.
The court had also directed Attorney General Munir A Malik to act as prosecutor general in the case.
In his reply submitted to the court on Monday, Lt Gen Malik ‘humbly’ requested the court to withdraw the notice.
“With repentance, [I] request this honourable court to graciously accept my apologies and regrets, and the notice of contempt may kindly be withdrawn for which I will be extremely obliged and I place myself at the benevolence and mercy of this honourable court,” he wrote.
In the contempt notice, a three-judge bench – headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry – had warned the authorities that the “law will take its own course” that if they failed to comply.
The bench had also ordered advocates generals of all the provinces to present their stance on the LB polls in their respective provinces on October 14.
ECP’s apprehensions
In its letter to the government, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had previously expressed its serious apprehensions over the possible delay in the local bodies’ elections in cantonment areas.
According to sources in the ECP, the commission announced on September 10 that LB elections in 42 cantonment boards of the country would be held in the first week of November.
The announcement had been made after a meeting with cantonment authorities and the defence secretary, who had assured the commission that the prime minister had approved the proposed draft of amendments in the Cantonments Act 1927, which had been sent to the president for approval.
However, according to the sources a day after the said announcement, Lt Gen Malik approached the ECP and said the prime minister – instead of approving the draft – had decided to constitute a 12-member committee to deliberate on the proposed amendments in the act.
The change of stance by the defence secretary irked the ECP, which wrote a letter to the attorney general expressing apprehensions that a delay in legislation could cause unnecessary delays in holding LB polls.
“It will not be possible to hold LB elections in November if the laws are not amended now. The Supreme Court’s deadline of September 15 has been missed by all the four provinces and the cantonment areas,” a top official of the ECP had told The Express Tribune.
The Supreme Court had asked the government to hold LB elections across the country by September 15. However, except for the cantonment areas where tangible progress had been made no province was in a position to hold LB polls this year.
The pre-requisite for holding LB polls is delimitation of constituencies by the provinces, necessary legislation by provincial legislatures and framing of rules. Some provinces have passed the laws which, however, were challenged in courts by opposition parties.
The apex court on Monday told the ECP to announce schedule for LB elections without waiting for verdicts on complaints against delimitations. The court will take up this matter again today.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2013.
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